Antisemitism in Political Parties

Ronnie Campbell

1987-2019: Labour Member of Parliament for Blyth Valley

Incidents

  1. On 5th April 2018, it was reported that Mr Campbell had issued a statement in which he said: [a] “Let us be clear – Adolf Hitler was a very bad person, and there is not an anti-Semitic [sic] bone in Jeremy Corbyn’s body…The latest row over the bizarre allegation that Jeremy is in any way anti-Jewish has been got up by the Right-wing media. It is getting so bad that you cannot criticise Israel in its dealings with Palestine without being accused of racism or fascism. They are using it as a big stick to hit Jeremy with…I do understand that people have to be careful what they say in any social media, and I will never condone some of the juvenile nonsense put about by social media on all sides, on Brexit and a host of other issues as well as racial slurs. However, the row is not as big as the Daily Mail and other Establishment toilet papers making it out to be.[b] Any critic of Israel who has had dealings with Palestine is seen as anti-Semitic [sic] and that is just plain wrong.”
  2. On 14th April 2019, Mr Campbell was interviewed on BBC Radio 4, and reportedly said: “The people in the Parliamentary Labour Party are using the Jewish issue, the antisemitic issue, as a big stick to beat Corbyn and get rid of him. It’s as simple as that as far as I can see. I’ve been in the Labour Party nearly — more than — 50 years and I’ve never heard anything like this before…nobody wanted [Jeremy Corbyn] in the first place, remember. The Parliamentary Labour Party put a no confidence vote in. When they didn’t get that, they started to say what issue can we get them on? Ah the Jewish issue. This is a good one. I feel sorry for the Jewish people…You’re being used by these people. Just to get rid of Corbyn that is.”

Analysis

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s analysis is that Mr Campbell’s statements amount to breaches of the International Definition of Antisemitism and qualify as antisemitic discourse according to our methodology.

By alleging that accusations of antisemitism (or, as he phrased it, “the Jewish issue”) were being “got up by the right-wing media” [1a]; that they were automatically being levelled at anyone who was simply a “critic of Israel” [1b]; that they were being used as a “big stick” to beat Jeremy Corbyn with [1a], and specifically in order to “get rid of [him]” [2], his comments necessarily include the Jewish groups and individuals who have been prominent among those who have made fully evidenced allegations of antisemitism in the Labour Party. In making this statement, therefore, he was deploying the so-called ‘Livingstone Formulation’, by accusing Jews who cite evidence of antisemitism of lying, conspiring or having deceitful motives in doing so, when there is clear evidence that there have been breaches of the International Definition of Antisemitism. This constitutes “making mendacious, dehumanising, demonising, or stereotypical allegations about Jews.”

Outcome

On 20th April 2018, it was reported that Mr Campbell had claimed that far-right individuals posing as supporters of Jeremy Corbyn could be responsible for online abuse of Jewish MPs as part of a “deliberate and organised attempt to bring Jeremy [Corbyn] down.”

Mr Campbell stood down before the December 2019 election.

We do not know whether disciplinary action has been taken by the Labour Party against Mr Campbell, and at the time of writing, on 5th October 2020, we have no record of any. However, the circumstances and outcomes of any such action would remain unknown, owing to the conditions of secrecy imposed by Baroness Chakrabarti’s report on antisemitism in the Labour Party.

In October 2020, Campaign Against Antisemitism put this matter to both Mr Campbell and the Labour Party, but did not receive a response.

Rating

Campaign Against Antisemitism has rated the Party’s handling of this matter as “bad”. Our rating system is explained in our methodology. This case was last updated on 5th October 2020.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has rated the Party’s handling of this matter as “unsatisfactory”. Our rating system is explained in our methodology. This case was last updated on 1st Monthember 2019.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has rated the Party’s handling of this matter as “good”. Our rating system is explained in our methodology. This case was last updated on 1st Monthember 2019.

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